Controversial rules regarding intersex athletes, which kept Caster Semenya of South Africa from defending her title in the 800-meter run at the Tokyo Olympics, have come under renewed scrutiny as scientists have issued a correction to a study that indicated a causal connection between high testosterone levels and enhanced athletic performance among elite female athletes.
The study, published in 2017, has been among the evidence used to restrict athletes with a rare genetic condition that results in elevated testosterone levels from entering certain women’s events.
Semenya’s attorneys and a prominent American critic of the restrictions on Wednesday called for the regulations to be suspended, following a correction printed by the British Journal of Sports Medicine of the 2017 article, which was written by two scientists affiliated with track and field’s world governing body.